MOHAMED ABBAS SHEYED EBRAMSA

Humble Beginnings with a Sense of Responsibility to Society...

Mohamed Abbas Sheyed Ebramsa is no doubt a high-achieving youth leader who currently has the corporate world in his sights. He cuts a clean and smart figure, with an almost debonair air about him. Yet, his attached CV shows him to be a co-founder of ONELYST, a highly successful company dedicated to bringing greater inclusivity to the financially challenged and deprived in South East Asia. The glowing success of this online company has caught the attention of Forbes Asia, which featured him in the “2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for Finance & Venture Capital Category”.

Abbas entered Outram Secondary School as a quiet and reserved boy. However, his passion for his CCA, NCC, saw him rise through the ranks to eventually become an NCC senior cadet leader. He took it upon himself to level up his fitness, while encouraging the rest of his junior cadets to follow his good example.

His parents recall:

"… Abbas was a very quiet student back in his Secondary school days. He had low self-confidence, he don't speak much in school and he was weak in his studies. Both of us didn't receive formal education, so we could not help him much to guide him in his school work. However, as parents, we were committed to provide a good education for our children. The teachers in Outram played an important role in shaping his life. I remember teachers stayed back after working hours to teach him subjects he could not understand. Teachers would also come over to our canteen stall to update us of Abbas' progress in his studies, usually giving us suggestions on how he could improve.”

Despite his humble background, his parents run a stall in the school canteen, he did not bemoan the need for hardship or why he had to do things the hard way. While in school, he took it upon himself to help his parents in whatever way he could as he appreciated how hard they were toiling to make ends meet. This meant reading up on HDB regulations and meeting HDB officers when the family wanted to buy an HDB flat when he was 15, and returning to school on Sundays as a student to help marinate and prepare the ingredients for the stall for the week ahead.  Likewise, with Onelyst, Abbas has remembered the humble roots from which he sprang from. Despite the lucrative nature of the company, he has always stressed that his target audience is the needy.

Eventually, Abbas scored well for the O levels and went to Singapore Polytechnic to pursue a double diploma. Subsequently, he was accepted into all the local universities. He chose NTU and pursued a banking and finance degree. He is the first in their family to pursue a degree in local university. His parents are grateful for how he has turned out, “We are truly happy and proud of him. We are sure that this would not have happened without Outram teachers' hard work and dedication."

Mohamed Abbas himself remembers that it was his time in Outram Secondary that his interest in the finance world was sparked. "The first time I was exposed to business studies was in Outram. I learnt about basic investments and was exposed to technical analysis where we had to forecast the direction of stock prices by studying past market data. That exposure spurred my interest in finance and I went on to study banking and finance in the Polytechnic and University. I am grateful to my teachers and thankful to Outram."

Despite his busy schedule, Abbas made an effort to contribute to the community. Having started off with the National Youth Achievement Award (NYAA) in Outram, he went onto complete a Gold Award at the tertiary level, where the NYAA Council noted he “served the community selflessly and conscientiously, allowing him to regain his sense of self-esteem when he saw how his service was improving the lives of others round him.”

Indeed, this is one of Outram’s obvious success stories. It is within Outram that this fine young entrepreneur found his inner strength and self, as well as the desire to succeed.